Perspiration accelerator



Patented Nov. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- PERSPIRATIONACCELERATOR Edward E. Henderson and David Olan Meeker,

New York, N. Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to CutasyLaboratories, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware NoDrawing. Application October 20, 1936, Serial No. 106,537

Claims. (Cl. 167-62) This invention relates to a method and meanstemperature and humidity conditions such that for producing anaccelerated sensible perspirasensible perspiration would ordinarily notoccur. tion of the human body. It is-a further object of our inventionto pro- It is recognized that the sweat glands play an vide such asubstance in a form which does not 5 important part in the chemistry ofthe human produce objectionable reaction when applied to body,functioning as outlets for eliminating the skin, does not requiremassage to produce its poisonous and waste materials, and it isfreeffect, may be easily applied and removed, and is quently desirable,and sometimes necessary, to free from drugs which might have a harmfulproduce a sustained sensible perspiration over effect on the body or theparts thereof.

considerable periods. Still other objects and advantages of our in- 10In the past, various methods have been emvention will be apparent fromthe specification. ployed for inducing sensible perspiration. Vari Thefeatures of novelty which we believe to be ousdrugs are known, which,taken internally, characteristic of our invention are set forth withtend to produce sensible perspiration, but such particularity in theappended claims. Our indrugs are generally harmful if taken in too greatvention itself, however, both as to.its funda- 15 quantities or over toolong a period, and in some mental principles and as to its preferredembodicases are dangerous to administer. ments, will best be understoodby reference to The application of heat, to cause sensible perthespecification. spiration, as in electric or steam cabinets, orPerspiration of the human body may be classed Turkish baths, is commonlyused, together with as of two kinds, sensible and insensible. In theadministration of hot liquids, but such methods latter, the visibleamount expressed by the sweat 20 are subject to the disadvantage thatthey require glands is small compared with that in the former specialapparatus, available only at certain case, and the skin may appear andfeel dry. In points, and to further and more serious disadthe formercase, relatively large amounts of pervantage that they require that thebody be subspiration are expressed in a short time, and it 25 jectedover considerable periods, to enervating may gather into drops largeenough to trickle heat (and usually to excessive humidity), which downthe body. is known to produce harmful results, and even The human bodyis known to be, in normal, death. healthy persons, self-regulating intemperature,

As an example, it is well known that in Turkish to a considerabledegree, and an important part 30 b Where a t mom s P ded to Cause ofthis regulating action is performed by the perspiration, bathers must becarefully watched sweat glands, When the ambient temperature and removedf om the room before harmful, and/or humidity rises to such an extentthat ts can and it is Well known that one feels uncomfortably warm, thesweat glands will yp W bathers cannot be are stimulated and sensibleperspiration begins. 35 mitted in the hot room at all. Deaths of bathersThis expressed perspiration ordinarily spreads in t at oo are notinfrequent When these D over the skin, and .unless the surrounding airis cautions are not Observed saturated with moisture, more or lessevapora- It is an object of this invention to provide a new tion takesplace, t i evaporation absorbing h at 40 method and means foraccelerating or increasing from t skin, and tending t 1 th skin t 40Sensible Perspiration of the human bodyperature (and also bodytemperature to a lesser It is a further object of this invention topro-' degree) and tending t decrease sensible pere a method and meansfor accelerating spiration until a condition of temperature equilibsibleperspiration, without the employment of rim i h d,

drugs or Special app r and without subiect- If the air is saturated withmoisture, little or 45 ing the body to enervating temperature and noevaporation can take place, and little or no humidity. cooling of theskin occurs, and perspiration may It is a further object of ourinvention to procontinue for long periods. vide a substance which may beapplied externally In normal, healthy persons, evaporation of on theskin and which will serve to produce an perspiration may be regarded asa self-regulating 50 accelerated or greater sensible perspiration thancontrol of the sweet glands, a high rate of evapocould otherwise beproduced under the same ration cooling the skin; the nerves controllingthe environmental temperature and humidity consweat glands then checkingor reducing the acditions, and which will also cause a continued tivityof those glands.

sensible perspiration under environmental We have discovered that by theuse of our in- 55 vention, a sensible perspiration may be started underconditions such that it would otherwise not occur, may be caused tocontinue at a greater rate than it otherwise would under the sameconditions. and may be caused to continue under environmentaltemperature and humidity conditions such that it would stop almostimmediately if our invention were not employed.

We have discovered that by coating the skin with a composition accordingto our invention, and causing perspiration to start, as by subjectingthe body to a mild perspiration-starting heat for a short time (whichmay be less than that required to produce sensible perspiration withoutthe employment of our invention), sensible perspiration will occur, andto a much greater degree than it would if the coating were not applied,and will continue as long as the coating is left on, to a much greaterdegree than it would under the same environmental temperature andhumidity conditions without the employment of the coating, and willcontinue even under environmental temperature and humidity conditionsinsufficient (without the employment of our coating) to maintain asustained sensible perspiration.

As an example, under temperature and humidity conditions such thatnormally no sensible perspiration occurs, one may apply our coating tothe body and expose himself to sunlight or other source of heat orwarmth for a few minutes, starting a perspiration. It will be found thatthe perspiration which occurs under such conditions is considerablygreater than. that which would occur under the same conditions if ourcoating were not employed, as can readily be demonstrated.

This perspiration is termed an accelerated perspiration. As soon as itstarts, the subjection of the body to heat may be discontinued ifdesired. If the environmental temperature and humidity conditions aresuch that perspiration would occur without the employment of ourcoating, in the case of normal individuals, such perspiration willcontinue, when our invention is employed, at a greatly increased rate.Ordinarily it will also continue as long as the ambient temperature isnot too much below normal body temperature, even though theenvironmental temperature and humidity conditions may be such thatsensible perspiration would not occur without the employment of ourcoating.

When it is desired to stop sensible perspiration, the coating may berubbed or washed off, whereupon normal evaporation and heat loss controlof the sweat glands is re-established.

Thus, it is possible to produce an accelerated sensible perspirationover long periods in persons who cannot or do not desire to use drugsfor the purpose, and who are unable or unwilling to undergo theenervating effect of long exposure to elevated temperature.

We have discovered that perspiration may be accelerated, as described,by coating the body surface with a layer or film of non-evaporating,non-absorbent composition, insoluble in water. having a relatively lowviscosity, and a surface tension reduced to a value such that there isproduced and maintained upon the skin a selfclosing film, permittingfree passage of perspiration globules therethrough, and closing uponitself immediately after the passage of such globules therethrough.

One substance which operates very satisfactorily is a saturatedhydrocarbon suitably treated to reduce its surface tension. Verysatisfactory results have been obtained when the composition to be usedfor the coating has a melting point no greater than normal bodytemperature, or at least not sufliciently greater to prevent it fromassuming a liquid form when applied to the body, a viscosity (Saybolt)at 210 F., between 38 seconds and seconds, and a surface tension of 30to 32 dynes per cm.,at 103 F.

While coatings having the characteristics above given have been found toproduce satisfactory results, we do not desire to limit ourselvesthereto, as variations may occur in compositions which will produce thedesired effect.

In producing our preferred composition we may utilize mineral oil withinthe limits of about 45% to 70%; petrolatum 13% to 25%; and waxes 20% to35%; the particular proportions being chosen to meet the particularconditions.

The mineral oil, if employed, preferably should have the followingcharacteristics:

Viscosity (Saybolt) at 100 F- 7.0 to 350 seconds. Specific gravity .830to .950. Color (Saybolt)- X30 or better. Odor and taste Pass U. S. P.for liq. petrolatum. Carbonizable impurities Pass U. S. P. for liq.petrolatum.

The petrolatum employed preferably should conform to U. S. P.fPetrolatum Album. The waxes employed may be refined paramne wax, U. S.P. Paraflinum; beeswax, U. S. P. "Cera Alba"; spermacetti U. S. P.Cetaceum", and Ozokerite, bleached grade.

Examples of formulas which may be employed and which will operate toproduce the results desired are the following:

Mineral 011...; 56 50 50 45 07 Petrolatum 19 23 20 20 21 Refinedparaflin WBX 25 18 25 20 spermacetti 9 Ozokerite 4 Beeswax Of thoseformulas given in the foregoing paragraph, that in column 6 is for mostpurposes generally preferred.

While we prefer to use mineral oil, animal oil, such as neats foot oil,or vegetable oil, such as linseed oil, olive oil, or oil of sesame, maybe employed with the addition of a suitable agent or agents to bring thesurface tension and viscosity to a value such as to produce aself-closing film permitting the free passage of perspiration globulestherethrough. Because animal and vegetable oils tend to turn rancid,suitable preservatives may be added in case the composition is to bekept on hand, but if mineral oil is used, such will not be necessary.

The composition may be made by melting the desired amount of waxes to beemployed and mixing the melted waxes with the oil, the latter beingwarmed, and stirring the mixture until homogeneous. Depending on thecomposition, the mixture may be a liquid at about normal bodytemperature, and a liquid semi-solid or cream at temperatures a littlelower.

If the composition is a liquid when desired to be applied, it may besimply rubbed lightly on the skin in the same manner as any otherliquid, and if in the form of a cream, may be spread lightly on as inapplying cold cream; no friction or massage being required in eithercase to produce the desired effect. In either event, it forms a liquidfilm upon the skin which is non-absorbent, nonvolatile, and insoluble inwater. It contains no irritating or harmful drugs, is not objectionableto apply and may be simply removed by rubbing or washing.

Without desiring to bind ourselves to any theoretical explanation of theaction of our composition, we believe that the non-evaporating andnon-absorbent quality of the layer or film, and its insolubility inwater, cause it to remain on the skin without evaporation, absorption,or washing oil by perspiration, for long periods. Its relatively lowviscosity and low surface tension, which cause it to remain in the formof a self-closing film over the skin and the orifices of the sweatglands, nevertheless permits thefree' passage of perspiration globulesthrough the film and causes the closure of the film upon itselfimmediately after the passage of the globules through it. There may alsobe a stimulation of the sweat glands, so that they express a greateramount of sensible perspiration than they would under the sameenvironmental temperature and humidity conditions if the coating werenot employed.

The expressed perspiration cannot spread upon the skin and cannot oilerthe large liquid-air surface contact favorable to evaporation, as itwould otherwise, and evaporation is thereby materially reduced, and theperspiration gathers in drops and runs oil the body.

The film also serves to some extent as a heat insulator for the skin,insulating it against heat losses, so that relatively small reductionsin temperature which might otherwise cause termination of sensibleperspiration, do not affect the nerves as they ordinarily would to checkthe flow of sensible perspiration.

While we have described certain preferred embodiments of our invention,it should be understood that modifications and changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof, as will be clear tothose skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A perspiration accelerator for application externally to the humanskin, comprising mineral oil within the limits 45% to 70%; petrolatum13% to and waxes 20% to 35%.

2. A perspiration accelerator for application externally to the humanskin, comprising an oily substance including mineral oil, 45% to 70%;petrolatum, 13 to 25%, and wax or waxes, 20 to 35%; having a surfacetension between and 32 dynes per centimeter at 103 F.

3. A perspiration accelerator for application externally to the humanskin, comprising substantially mineral oil, 55%; petrolatum 21%;parafi'ln wax 20%; and ozokerite 4%.

4. A perspiration accelerator for application to the human skin,comprising mineral oil, 45 to 70%; petrolatum 13 to 25%, and 20% to ofwax from the group; paraffin, spermacetti, ozokerite, and beeswax.

5. A perspiration accelerator for application externally to the humanskin, comprising a mixture of mineral oil between the limits of and 70%,petrolatum between the limits of 13 and 25%, and wax or waxes betweenthe limits of 20 and 35%, and having a viscosity (Saybolt) at 210 F.between 38 and seconds.

EDWARD E. HENDERSON. DAVID OLAN MEEKER.

